Ive been givien the task or organising a quiz night for charity....sort of like a pub quiz I guess? I went to a charity one a couple of years back so have a rough idea. The questions themselves arent an issue (have genius friend!) but just wondered if anyone has organised a similar thing and if there are any things to be aware of or any tips and advise anyone can send my way please? its to be held on an evening in a quiet pub, if that helps with ideas.

I hold a quiz night once a week and I find variety is key. Vary the length and content of rounds, questions that anyone might be able to answer with a bit of thought also go down well.
Interacting with the 'audience' lightens the mood and helps you relax too! I was soooo scared of being heckled but abit of banter with everyone is alot of fun! Although it might be tempting to make the quiz harder, with questions you personally wouldnt know, make sure you have some background on the question just incase someone disagrees with what you have as an answer (always find that helps if you dont write the questions yourself)
Picture rounds & anagrams/word puzzles work well, I have found, as it can help fill breaks inbetween rounds. If you would like any of mine (I have a few :) ) or anymore advice just ask!
hope this helps!

There is at least one in my village each year, I've been part of a team quite a few times. Make sure you announce at the start that 'QUIZ-MASTERS DECISION ON ANSWERS IS FINAL AND NON-NEGOTIABLE', we sometimes end up with banter/minor heckling about answers but a couple of times it has got quite heated, especially final few rounds if scores are close.
Best of luck. Chris
ps 1 round that is quite good is 'Logos - name the product' especially if you throw in some of the older ones that have been changed.

>make sure you have some background on the question just incase someone disagrees with what you have as an answer

At one quiz night the question was asked "Where is the tomb of the Unknown Warrior?" People asked "Which one?" and were told "There's only one".

The answer was not Westminster Abbey (the British one) or Arlington Cemetery (the US one) or Wellington (the NZ one) ... but the Arc de Triomphe (the French one). It caused a furious argument ...

So make sure the questions are clear and the answers are right!

I love pub quiz's and go to alot of them, there such good fun, and a great night out with friends!
All the best with yours Sam!!

yes, and the answer to any question regarding any country in africa isnt africa!

I would get the teams to mark each others answers as it is far quicker than one person trying to mark the whole lot.

We also have a table quiz which contains around 20 questions and is ongoing through the evening. Give out the sheet at the beginning of the evening and mark them at the end - ours are usually anagrams or questions based roughly around the cause that the money is being raised for - so if it was raising money for a dog rescue for instance then all the answers would be to do with dogs but the questions would be cryptic ones, anagrams or very loosely based on dogs.

Have a couple of tie breakers ready so that you can have an outright winner if two or more teams finish with the same score.

We have a prize for the lowest scoring team as well.

Make it clear that the quiz masters answer is the one that will be accepted in the case of a disagreement - it is surprising how passionate people can get if they believe the correct answer is different to the one given.

Have a maximum number of team members to try and prevent teams of 12 being in competition with teams of 2.

be mindful of the length of time between rounds- plenty time for loo and bar trips but not half hours etc as you'll be there forever.

Ban mobile phones !!!!!!  I've lost count of the times I have been text for answers by people doing pub quizzes.

> Ban mobile phones !!!!!!  I've lost count of the times I have been text for answers by people doing pub quizzes.

I agree although it's hard to do, watch out for folk running to the loo a bit too often!

We used to go to a pub quiz every week for years and it was good fun especially if the crowd are there for a fun night out. There are always a few who take it very seriously and are there to win which can spoil it a bit. Limit your team sizes too, we had teams of no more than 5 players. I would also say, don't make it too difficult as folk will get fed up if they can't answer the questions. One of the 'quiz masters' (the regular quiz goers took turns in being quiz master) used to do themed ones, ie a Hallowe'en one at the end of Oct, a Scottish one around Burns night, a Christmas one, etc which always went down well.

thanks for all these great tips....im making notes of all of them....please keep them coming!

If you want a 'fun' round - I went to a quiz years ago where every team was given a plate with teaspoonfuls of baby food on it. The teams had to name the flavours !! :) :)

Daisy

We have a quiz night with fish and chip supper each year instead of a Christmas party at my local dog club. I have found that people like variety in the type of questions, so we have a round with pictures and either side of that questions, then we have our supper break and then we do the last rounds, which again are a mixture of picture rounds and straight forward questions. We ask teams to swap answer papers to save time, and we don't leave too long between rounds.

another question please.......Im going to say max. number of 6 per team (tables in pub cant cope with more than 6) and Im wondering how to charge it? Would £6/head  to include supper be fair? Does that sound too much? Not enough?

It all depends on what they are getting to eat Sam. Most quizzes are/were charging £1 per head. So that would leave £5 for food. Do people get a choice or is it one set meal for all?

its a big plate of freshly cooked bangers and chips :)

Some local chippies do special deals if you are buying a large amount of meals and they will even deliver them. Our local chippy does this for my training club for our Christmas Quiz Night.

thats not the issue. we have a great pub whose allowing us to use his bar, and hes providing food. just want to know if £6 is about the right price. we dont want the pro teams turning up...I understand from someone in the village they tour round looking for quizes...yikes!!! sounds like sharks!!!  this is just meant to be a fun, fundraiser night.

We went to a charity quiz a few years back that was £5 per head which included stovies and the quiz, the usual weekly one is £1 per head and the money is then split up between the 1st, 2nd & 3rd winners. We used to go to a quiz where it was £1 a head which went to a nominated charity at the end of the year. The pub provided hot sausage rolls, sandwiches, crisps etc for free at half time and a bottle of spirits for the winning team each week!  I would certainly pay £6!

I don't know how you could stop the pro teams though, they take it all very seriously!

One of the ways to discourage the pros and make the less able quizzers :-) come back again if you plan to repeat the event another time is to have two prizes. The first prize goes to the team that actually has the highest score. The other prize is a "lucky" one. At the end of the night each team, barring the winners, writes their score on a piece of paper and these are then put in a draw. The score drawn out of the hat is the "lucky" winner  - that way it doesn't matter if your team is the Brain of Britain or Duffers United you all stand a chance of winning the prize. If two or more teams have the same score then it is down to a tie-breaker :-)

> ...I understand from someone in the village they tour round looking for quizes...yikes!!! sounds like sharks!!!

they do indeed, like that channel 4 advert. can't understand why!

I don't know how you could stop the pro teams though, they take it all very seriously!
hopefully by charging £6 and making it clear that there will be at least one "fieldsports" round :) :)

A quiz night I attended some years ago was a fundraiser for a charity, one of the rounds was made up of questions connected the charity the funds were being raised for. The supporters knew a lot of the answers, and those of us who didn't (me included) learnt a lot from it.

> hopefully by charging £6 and making it clear that there will be at least one "fieldsports" round

Would that not make them go and swot up on Field sports unless you don't advertise that round? I do like the idea of putting all the scores in a hat and drawing one out for the 2nd prize!

no i dont think theyd have a cat in hells chance of swotting up on at least 10 fieldsport related topics that some people have studdied for a whole lifetime, and are still learning.....not in 8 weeks!! LOL

Sam if its for charity then charging £6 per head is not over priced in my mind. Can i ask what the charity is? Have you already got the teams sorted as such in that certain people in your field or locals will be coming?

Well if its like the last one I attended a few years back then teams just turn up on the night. its a fundraiser  being organinesd by the hunt  and its going to be advertised in a few local pubs/village shops, and in all the newsletters for the adjacent 5 hunt suppporters clubs. it will also be advertised by the CA regional newsletter we hope!

LOL go for it then!

Sounds like fun, shame i live on the other coast to you.